Chapter 6: Final Preparations

"Today's the day. It's your wedding day! Wake up, princess!" Karane cheered over the partition to awaken her sleeping roommate.

Zelda rolled over and opened her eyes. Sunlight spilled in through her open window. She sat up quickly. "What time is it?"

"Just a little after sunrise. You said you wanted up bright and early. It'll take a while for everything to be set up, and if you want the ceremony to start before dinner we have to be up this early."

Zelda yawned and got ready for the day. She slipped into her Goddess dress to temporarily wear so she could change into her wedding gown later. The girls grabbed the bags of decorations from Karane's half of the room and slipped out of the academy. They walked to the plaza and found Pipit who had agreed to be the "Ancient Hero," the male role that complimented the Goddess, in the ceremony. He was dressed in his usual knightly attire at the moment.

"My bird can carry some of the supplies down. Fledge and Groose are already down there with the long benches we borrowed from the academy classroom," Pipit said as he took the girls' bags and fastened them to his Loftwing. The girls nodded and leapt off the ledge onto their Loftwings.

When they arrived in the clearing of Faron Woods, Karane gasped. She had been at the practice the evening before but had not had the chance to fully appreciate the beauty of the woods in the morning sunlight.

The birds landed gracefully around the ruined stairs that led to the passage to the Deep Woods. Before them stood the mighty tree surrounded by a small pool of sparkling blue water. There was a small clearing between the pool and the ruins where Groose and Fledge were busily moving chairs and benches into ranks. Zelda and Karane unloaded the bags from the birds while Pipit went over to help move chairs.

"This is perfect," Zelda said, looking at the chairs facing the ruins. "The ceremony can be set up right in front of these ruins. The weather is perfect today too," She smiled and unpacked some of the paper lanterns to place in the nearby trees.

After placing a few paper lanterns in the surrounding trees and setting the blue and red paper luminaries along a path between the town and the location, Zelda looked over the setup and approved it. Karane then told her it was time to go back to Skyloft so she and the boys could finish decorating the area while Zelda prepared.

Zelda landed in front of the academy and found the rest of her bridal party in the dining room chatting. Upon seeing her, they squealed in delight. "It's the bride," exclaimed Mallara. "Everything is ready. I think Pipit already took your cake down this morning."

Zelda nodded. "I will never be able to thank you all enough for helping me out."

Orielle smiled. "Anything for the new Princess of Hyrule."

A small flush covered Zelda's cheeks. She knew the people were looking to her as their leader now. She would have to get used to it. "Link is out of here, right?"

Piper laughed. "He's out. We heard Fledge pounding on his door to get up earlier. I think he flew somewhere down on the surface so he could meditate in peace…"

Zelda snorted. Yea right, he was probably going to take a nap at one of the secret springs…

"I made lunch," said Henya as she pulled out some kind of concoction that had been cooking in the fireplace.

After eating with the women, Orielle and Zelda went to Zelda's room to fetch the wedding gown from her wardrobe. The women had been hiding it in there after they finished work on it each day. Zelda had avoided looking at it so she could be surprised on the day of her wedding. She changed into the gown and practically squealed in delight. It was everything she imagined it would look like and more. Orielle helped her put the complicated dress on. When the last zipper was fastened, Zelda looked down at herself.

The dress looked fit for a princess. The main creamy white skirt puffed out elegantly and a small train glided behind her. The white folds of the skirt were covered by a smaller sheath of glittery white fabric that cascaded down over her hips from her waist and wrapped around the back. The edges of these pieces were lined with gold. Her waist was accented by tiny gold colored gem stones where the bodice connected to the skirts. Her bodice was fitted to her figure and accented by a sweetheart neckline. But what really struck Zelda were the feathers.

The feathers of her Loftwing wrapped from the small of her back to her waist and curved up until they reached her neckline, where they accented the curves of her chest elegantly. The feathers had been completely dyed white, a sacred style that had only been ever worn by the Goddess herself in legends. She looked at her veil. A small golden tiara would slide onto her head and allow the long veil to cascade in front of her eyes—and eventually, her hair. Some small white feathers were fastened delicately to the tiara above where her ears rested.

Zelda smiled and then found some golden sandals she had in her wardrobe. She then put on a gold necklace that had been her mother's before she died.

Zelda spin around, looking at herself in the mirror. "It's absolutely gorgeous!" She hugged Orielle. "I must thank everyone else as well!"

She picked up her skirts, stepped outside her room, and flew down the steps, her train flowing sophisticatedly behind her. Orielle followed. When she arrived in the dining room, the women cooed over her and admired their work.

"It's gorgeous! You look beautiful!"

"It fits you perfectly!"

"Link might legitimately faint when he sees you..."

"YOU LOOK LIKE A…PRINCESS!"

Zelda scooped up Kukiel and hugged the child. "I just want to thank everyone for making this dress and helping with everything for my wedding. It's going to be lovely, all thanks to everyone who has helped. I hope you all have fun tonight!"

They heard a door open followed by a squeal of delight. Karane excitedly ran in from the hallway and beheld Zelda in her gown. "Zelda…I'm going to cry. Oh my goodness you're gorgeous! You really are a goddess!" She covered her mouth as she looked at the beautiful dress. "I can't believe you designed this!"

Zelda grinned. "Thank you, Karane. I can't wait to see you, and everyone else, dressed up as well." She turned to everyone. "I still have to arrange my hair and put on some make-up. I'll be in my room taking care of that." Zelda began walking towards the steps and Karane quickly followed, picking up the train so she could help Zelda prepare.

…

Meanwhile, at the Skyview Spring, Link was awakened as his Loftwing splashed some water on his face. "Hey, I'm up," he groaned as he sat up.

Fledge had awakened him at dawn (waaaay too early for Link) so Zelda could utilize the entire academy to get ready in privacy. After all, it was a bad omen to see the bride dressed up before the wedding.

Link stretched. He had flown here because it wasn't too far from where he would need to be soon, and he knew it was a quiet place where he could get a few more hours of sleep. Upon landing, he had allowed his Loftwing to sit beside the spring, curled up against its warm red feathers, and peacefully fallen asleep. But now his Loftwing had decided to dip its beak in the water and drip water all over his face.

He stood up and wiped his wet cheeks with his hand and sniffed. Looking up, he took note of the angle of the sun. It was past midday. He had slept through lunch again. Luckily he had packed some food along with the garments he was to wear at the wedding.

He pulled a dinner roll and some fruit out of his bag. He wasn't very concerned about being hungry later since the townspeople were all bringing food to share after the wedding ceremony. After finishing the food, he reached into his pouch and took out the Goddess Harp. Closing his eyes, he began playing some of the songs he had learned on his quest. His Loftwing quietly rested behind him.

After a while, Link got up and decided to wash himself in the spring so he would smell nice for the ceremony. He then changed into his ceremonial wedding garb. It had been made by Zelda's bridal party. Apparently it matched her dress well. When he had tried it on at the academy, the women gushed all over how handsome he looked.

He fixed his cuffs and bowtie and then turned to his Loftwing. "Well, what do you think?" The bird looked at him and then nuzzled his outstretched hand. Link smiled at the bird's approval. Even his Loftwing had been outfitted with a large gold bowtie.

He had been given white tapered pants and shiny white dress shoes. He wore a white long sleeved dress shirt with a satin golden vest over it alongside a matching bow tie. He put on a white suit coat as well.

Now all he had to do was comb out his shaggy hair. He went over and grabbed a comb out of his bag and combed out all of the tangles in his dirty-blonde locks. He usually didn't care much about what his hair looked like, but today was different. He wanted to look his best for his bride.

After he felt like he could do no more damage, he picked up his things and hopped on his Loftwing. "Let's go make sure everything is ready." As they took off, he felt his nerves beginning to rise.

…

The afternoon heat was beginning to lift as the sun slowly set and Zelda carefully mounted her blue Loftwing. Her bird was wearing its usual gold necklace but also had sparkly white streams of fabric trailing off of its tail. She was to fly to her staged position before the ceremony. Her father mounted his Loftwing behind her and then they both soared off together towards the surface.

She and her father landed at the Bird Statue near the Sealed Grounds, the spot where she told her guests to land. Gaepora commented that he liked the luminaries. Zelda's bird walked behind her as they followed the trail of small paper containers with flickering candlelight inside. The trail alternated between blue and red luminaries in honor of her and Link's Loftwing breeds and the Loftwings that carried the knights of Skyloft.

They walked quietly through the emerging town. Karane and Pipit were waiting for them under the Goddess statue, holding hands and talking. Karane turned. She was wearing a dress that looked very similar to Zelda's pink Goddess dress, except it was gold. Pipit was in his knight uniform but had added gold shoulder plates and a long white scarf. They did indeed look like the Goddess and Ancient Chosen Hero. Zelda complemented them before they continued their journey. They led the bride and her father to an area near the great tree but out of sight of the guests that were arriving in the area. Zelda's bird flew ahead to find Link's Loftwing. Karane and Pipit left to gather those who were in the ceremony. The bridal party would soon be staging with Zelda.

Zelda was now alone with her father. She looked up at him and fixed his bowtie. "Father, thank you for everything. I'm so happy to be standing here with you right now, and I love you."

Her father smiled and placed his hands on her bare shoulders. He then moved her veil in front of her face. "Zelda, you couldn't have a more proud father. I love you too, and if you ever need me I will always be here to support you. I know you'll treat Link well, and he has already proved his love for you. I will gladly accept him as a son." He sniffed, his face becoming red. "My baby girl is getting married. You look beautiful. I bet your mother is watching us right now."

Zelda smiled. "I'm sure she is, Papa! I want you to enjoy tonight. Remember, I may be growing up and getting married, but I'm always your daughter. I won't be far away." She hugged her father.

Karane returned along with Kukiel, who was dressed in white and holding a basket of gold painted flower petals. "Everyone is staged. I'll be watching for the signal." Karane then handed her a bouquet of Ancient Flowers that she had constructed at the request of Link. "For you," she said.

Zelda accepted the flowers, remembering Link's adorable proposal. Everything was perfect. She was thrilled to finally be marrying her best friend, her hero. She could hardly wait as she heard the music start.